


From Flesh to Bone

by Bootleg_Pokestar



Series: Disease AU [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dystopian, Implied Cannibalism, Medical Procedures, Pokemon special alternative universe, Science Fiction, Semi Post-Apocalyptic, occasional graphic depictions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bootleg_Pokestar/pseuds/Bootleg_Pokestar
Summary: After humanity is nearly killed of by a deadly virus, a sudden mutation lead to an evolution where humans will fuse with a lethal infection right before one’s death. Renown doctor, The Magician wants to free people of their bondage.
Series: Disease AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650394
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: The Pokémon AU Archives





	From Flesh to Bone

**Author's Note:**

> A challenge fic written for specord winter 2020

The Magician still couldn’t help but find it odd that he was so willing to take a case regarding the all too common bacteria Streptococcus Pyogenes. The very same bacterium that causes strep throat. Not only just because it was common, but also because it was easy to treat. He normally dealt with illnesses that would force a man to go into isolation. The specimen he had in front of him was clearly collected haphazardly to boot. The sample came in the form of a lazily-cut slice of infected skin. Not to mention how dangerous it was to just cut off some skin when you know someone has a potentially deadly infection. It was a miracle the specimen didn’t die on the way to his lab. 

Even then, here he was, intensely studying the few bacterium he managed to gather. There was one thing he could confirm however, that this was definitely Streptococcus Pyogenes. Too bad that information could only help him so much. The physical structure of the bacteria itself wasn’t enough information to make a valid conclusion on what he was really dealing with. With the amount of different strands spanning from harmless to lethal it could possibly be would have made any guesses not only difficult, but dangerous. Thankfully he did have something to go off of; a symptoms report given to him by the hospital the infected patient was at. The symptoms listed were terrifying to say the least. He couldn’t trust this sample to someone less experienced. 

His phone rang in the middle of examination, shocking but not surprising. The Magician was expecting a call around this time, the only reason he had it in hand to begin with. Going to the phone and picking it up, he saw that it was none other than his own son. Oh boy, here we go again. 

His son’s tone was furious with a mix of concern, “Dad? Dad this is you right? You’re not pulling my leg and having someone else answer again?”

“No no, it’s me Lack. Don’t kid yourself.”

“Good. Now you better explain why you are planning on leaving us again to Arceus knows where to go put yourself head first into some unknown micros that can kill ya in a snap.” 

“Listen, I understand that you’re upset-“

“I’m not here to beat around the push Dad.” Lack’s tone only getting more angry with each passing moment. 

“This request isn’t a matter of choice.” The Magician proclaimed, “There’s a potentially deadly case of someone suffering Necrotizing Fasciitis. You know how dangerous that gets when the body starts to absorb an agent that can cause such lethal illnesses.”

“You have a grandson who would very much like to have his grandfather around - not a crazed mad-man for his birthday in a week!” Lack nearly metaphorically spat at his own father.

“I’ll be back before his birthday. The person infected is just outside city walls. It’s not too compli-”

Lack interrupted him, “Let someone else take it then.” 

“This isn’t just any case. If my theories are correct then I need to head over there immediately. I don’t have the time to wait for the DNA results to come in. There’s going to be chaos on the streets when people find out there’s a possibility that an extremely rare disease is out in the open. They should be considered blessed if the person hasn’t already started the transformation process.” 

“If that’s the case than what do you expect to do? You know you can’t reverse someone’s transition to a macrobacterium. I can’t have you out there risking your life to try and solve something that can’t be solved.” 

“I couldn’t care less if it ‘can’t be solved’. This is my life's work to find a cure to this transformation and I’m going. Any information helps. Especially on rare cases like this. I said I promise I’ll be back for his birthday. Either way I should only be gone for a few days whether I’m successful or not.” 

“Dad-“

“This is my decision and it’s final. I’ll see you in about four days at most. If not that, I’ll be home the day before his birthday.”

The Magician hung up right then and there. It brought a certain kind of pain to be doing this again, but it had to be done. He was going to head out late tonight so he can be there by morning and get this done as soon as possible, for the good of everyone. 

Getting ready took longer than usual, having to pack all his supplies since the town in question didn’t have any of the medical instruments ready that he was used to working with. It was nearly midnight by the time he had finally left, the taxi outside his door ready to leave. It was relaxing in a weird sort of way. It’s been awhile since he had ever left any big city to be in a more suburban area. There was so much color to be seen, not the blank white houses that covered the streets. Nature was more prominent and the air had an oddly refreshing sensation. 

No time to be ruminating. Someone with a potentially deadly illness was living in this very place. The hospital that was keeping the victim was more unkempt than he would’ve liked. Not dirty, but certainly not the extreme precautions a more competent hospital would have. 

The nurse at the front desk immediately recognized him, “Doctor! Thank goodness you came! You couldn’t have arrived at a better time. No need to wait, the patient is in room 35. Do you want me to escort you there?”

“Yes, that would be greatly appreciated.” The Magician was wasting no time getting to the point. 

Walking to the room was almost aggravatingly long despite the short distance. Before entering, the Magician put on his gloves and his surgical mask at the foot of the door. While this particular type of bacteria only ever infected people via cuts or contact with bodily fluids, it was safer to cover everything in case there was any flying liquids involved from the procedure. 

“Just knock and tell them you’re here. They’ll let you in without me.” The nurse then hurried back down the hallway, back to the safety of her desk. 

He knocked on the door as he was told. “Hello? It’s me Magician. I’m here to see the patient you sent me a message about.”

Instantly the door creaked open for him, letting him sneak in before any possible contamination got out. Any hope for an easy job had evaporated as soon as he saw the condition of the infected person. 

The younger of the two doctors was the first to greet him, “Thank the heavens you came doctor! You could imagine how difficult it’s been-“

The Magician snapped at him uncharacteristically, “No time for chit chat. I’m getting to work right now. All I need you to do is open up my briefcase and hand me whatever I need when I tell you to.”

“Y-Yes doctor!”

On command, the two hastily opened the briefcase ready for orders. The Magician’s worst fears had been realized. Looking at the patient was a hard enough task as is. The flesh all over his right arm had been completely opened by the flesh-eating bacteria. The humerus was wide open for the world to see surrounded by rotting, black and putrid flesh which worked its way up to the chest. The chest was a disgusting mix of soot-black dead skin and open cavities of flesh that were also in the process of necrosis. It was reaching dangerously close to the heart, and already reaching the top of the right lung. Any area with exposed flesh was bleeding to some capacity. A sign that the heart was still beating, but death was the least of the Magician’s concern. 

The operation lasted until 7am. There was no way to revive dead flesh, so they had to completely excise all of it before they could even start treatment, having to double-check all the places where they’d cut to make sure they did get everything. Replica skin was sown on to block the exposure of flesh to the outside world until they could get a better replacement for the massive amount of lost muscle and tissue the best solution they had that didn’t involve completely amputating the arm. Most of the Magician’s time was spent on getting rid of the Streptococcus Pyogenes infection. If that wasn’t removed, then there would have been no point in even operating. 

It was difficult with cases like these. He didn’t know how much time he really had. Before he even left his laboratory, he had asked multiple questions about the patient’s current mental state. The first step in someone’s transformation was always a huge degradation in mental acuity. Sudden, wild outburst that were normally not present in the person. Extreme social isolation and constant acute pain that would make even the strongest person fall to their knees. All the common symptoms of an extreme schizophrenic, without the vivid hallucinations. The problem comes in when the person gets admitted in such critical condition from the get go that they don’t get the chance to show these warning signs. Long story short, The Magician has no clue if they were still capable of saving the man on the operating table or if they were bound to spend the rest of their lives in a containment facility as scientists do Arceus knows what to them and their failing bodies in the name of ‘science’. 

The Magician slowly finishes up the last stitches on the patient’s body. Nothing more he could do. He had gotten rid of most of the visible infection and replaced as much potentially infected blood the body was capable of handling in one sitting. He could only hope that he at least done enough to have possibly stopped or slowed down the process. If he had slowed it down enough, he could test out some of his theories on how to reverse the transformation when treated soon enough. 

The group left the room and went into a decontamination room. Everything was to be incinerated except for certain tools that The Magician used which were to go through intense sterilization. 

“I’m going to be staying in a nearby hotel.” The Magician huffed, “Give the patient about twenty-four hours to see if anything we did today was effective. I’ll come back after that to check on their condition. Keep a close eye on them okay?” 

“Yes sir!” The older doctor replied without hesitation. 

The Magician was directed to the hotel he was to stay at. It had a comfy feeling about it. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was getting to him as anything looked like a wonderful place to rest. Exhausted, he trudged into the establishment. It wasn’t nearly as updated or as polished as any of the places he’s used to stay at back in the big city, but that sense of nostalgia he got from the faded plaster walls was a relaxing change of pace. His face barely scraped the soft pillow underneath before passing out into a deep sleep. 

…

Hazy noise filled the room The Magician was currently sleeping in. It took a while to process that the noise itself was his cell phone ringing in its monotone tune. It was only 10am at this point, meaning he only got three hours of sleep in. A dreadfully pitiful amount. He didn’t recognize the number and was nearly ready to ignore it completely. Though he did remember that he was out on a job outside his usual station. If it was something important he would never forgive himself. 

He dragged his phone across the bed side table towards his ear, “Hello? Is there something you need?” tone laced in groggy annoyance. 

It was one the doctors from the hospital. At least The Magician assumed as much. Whoever it was, they were absolutely panicked, “Oh Arceus, oh sweet lord I knew we should have called you sooner I KNEW it. But oh no one listens to me!”

“Whoa there chill out, I can barely understand you when you slur your words together. Take a deep breath and tell me what’s up.”

The young doctor took none of his advice, “Come over immediately. We don’t have the time we thought we did. DISC has been called already and is ready to take the patient to a maximum confinement facility. Normally we wouldn’t ask you for this but, they can’t seem to get the patient under control. We’ve never seen such a violent reaction from a crazed strain like this! Their usual work isn’t doing anything. Their behaviors are nothing like the normal cases. The brain was affected in such a vastly different way… we can’t do this without someone who knows a thing or two about macrobacteriums.”

The Magician’s bolted awake, “You don’t mean-”

“It was all for nothing. Your treatments didn’t work. Whether or not it was experimental doesn’t matter anymore. We would have called you sooner if we didn’t spend so much time getting all the other patients away from the threat. Please, I can explain later but for now we need you here before they get out and hurt more people.”

The young doctor hung up without any confirmation that The Magician was coming. He only had a more casual set of clothing to put on due to his formal wear being in the washer. There was no time to wait for something more presentable. He only packed a small bag of medical equipment as well as his two prized Pokémon. One of the most important items in the medical bag being a set of syringes filled with an ultra-powered tranquilizer The Magician has been working on made specifically for macros. He made it as a desperate last resort if there were no options left. Hopefully this wouldn’t be one of those cases. He left the room in a mad dash, completely neglecting to notice the numerous missed calls he got from his son. 

People crowded the hospital wanting to get a closer look at the carnage. A hefty struggle was necessary for The Magician to get close enough to see what exactly became of the patient he tried so hard to save. Multiple large vans proudly adorning the name 'Disease and Illness Suppression Corporation’ had the hospital doors surrounded to prevent the macro from having an easy escape route. A wall of suppression officers and their partner Pokémon blocked any openings and was slowly moving towards the macro. Galvantulas and Haxorus acting as the frontal attackers and in the back Simisages to heal quickly heal any small injuries from an attack from the enemy. All officers and Pokémon wearing hazmat-like suits to prevent themselves from getting any infections. 

No doubt the man who was currently crouching over like a feral Pokémon was the patient he tried so hard to save. Any place where he and the doctors attempted to heal was made even worse with more dead flesh and bigger wounds. The black, dried skin has spread even farther out to the neck and to the top area of his thighs. Unlike last time, there was virtually no blood to be seen from these wide open wounds. The flesh has completely caked over leaving nothing but a black layer of once living skin. Yet despite none of his wounds bleeding, the man was still covered in blood. He must have gotten to people even with the hospital’s three hour effort to prevent that. Any area that wasn’t infected was blistering with multiple black pockets of puss lined together in chains. 

The patient was too far gone for him to help in this state. Maybe if he was still in the hospital bed he’d have a chance, though the transformation process was much more rapid than usual this time around. 

The Magician was deep in thought as one might be in such a situation. His own mind had blocked out one of the heavily suited officers walking towards him, “What brings you here? Thought you were a doctor not an officer.” 

The Magician jumped out of his skin at the aggressive tone this so called joke was told in. A warning would have been nice before this person started blabbering to him. If it wasn’t for the fact it was his own son talking to him, The Magician would have let him have it. 

The Magician was in no mood for jokes, “I was told you all were having a hard time bringing them down. What’s the problem?” 

“Whatever this maniac has, it's making him lose it. Took us forever to pry away the body he had pressed against his chest and jaws.”

The Magician stammered back, “J-Jaws? As in he’s eating people?”

“Sure is. Supposedly he got to a good amount of people before my group showed up. Described the scene as straight out of a zombie movie. Blood, guts and everything.”

“That doesn’t make sense… The transformation is only supposed to make these macrobacteriums prone to violence, not flat out detrimental to other humans.”

Lack rolled his eyes, “Your actin’ like I’m supposed to care about this. I’m only explaining what’s happening. Now since you were so determined to come over here in the first place, mind telling me how we stop this thing?” 

The Magician paced around in a small circle, considering his options, “Why can’t you just do what you normally do?”

“He’s not like everyone else, did I not make that clear enough? Our suppression isn’t taking him out, and if we kill him we’ll definitely have a huge lawsuit on our hands.” Lack pauses for a second, taking in his father’s words,”You don’t mean to tell me you don’t even know what to do.”

“Of course, all that’s needed is to uh, you know… yep that’s it.”

“Those aren’t answers.” Lack stated more firmly. 

“Fine! I don’t have anything. If he’s really attacking people unprovoked, or worse for energy, then none of my typical calming tactics will work.”

“Great.” Lack grumbled, “Now we are at a stand-off with a dangerous macro that’s on the hunt for us. This is the last thing I needed today.”

The Magician brought his hand up to Lack’s chest to stop him, even though Lack wasn’t planning on moving, “Actually I have an idea. Give me one moment and it’ll be done for you.”

His Pokéball opened up and revealed a graceful Kirlia, a Pokémon The Magician has had ever since he started working as a doctor. Along with that, he took out one of the many syringes. It was extremely powerful stuff. If fully injected into a human it would most definitely cause cardiac arrest. Though if suppression wasn’t working, which typically involved a combination sleeping gas, Pokémon attacks, and even regular tranquilizers, surely this macro could handle a more serious solution.  
In Lack’s bewilderment, The Magician sneaks away and rushes out towards the macro. The syringe given to Kirlia as they made quicker pace towards it. 

“DAD! WHAT IN ARCEUS’ NAME DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” 

His cries were ignored, and the macro’s attention was locked in on The Magician and his Pokémon. 

Lack was visibly scared out of his wits end, his face drenched in sweat. He turned to all his co-workers who simply stared at the event unfolding, “WHAT ARE YOU SLACKERS DOING?! STOP HIM BEFORE HE GETS KILLED!”

In a split second reaction, the macro had his hand clasped on The Magician’s collar, nails inches away from perching his skin. Multiple DISC Pokémon aimed at the macro, either charging an attack or preparing a full body rush. Right before The Magician could see his life flash before his eyes, Kirlia had gotten behind the macro, jumping up and jabbing the syringe right into the jugular. They could only get half the liquid into the macro, but that was more than enough to make them collapse onto the floor. 

All Pokémon were called back and efforts went into containing the macro. Lack wasn’t part of that group and was instead there for clean up. There were a lot of bodies to move to a proper cleansing facility for studying or burning, depending on how lucky the person is. He expected most of the bodies to be examined more closely, as they were all covered in various bite marks and missing chunks of flesh. Something not commonly found at the scene of the macrobacterium attack. 

The Magician on the other hand, was already in a van saved just for him so he could be taken to the city for intense human sterilization. He was comfy and ready to leave before the van stopped in its tracks and the back doors flung open. As expected, it was Lack, ready to chew him out. 

His face was filled with rage, it was near impossible to tell he was genuinely worried for his dad’s well being, “What in the name of the distortion world were you thinking back there?!”

“It’s an experimental mixture of mine. You would have never let me even try it.” The Magician stammered. 

“That’s bull and you know it. What made you think it was a good idea to quote literally put yourself in death’s grip?”

“It was a knee jerk reaction. I didn’t want to see them hurt anyone else. Plus, it made your job go by faster.”

“I couldn’t care about that! You could have gotten killed! Or worse, infected! Do you have any idea what kind of trauma I would have if you got sick and I wasn’t able to help you?!”

“Geez no need to be pushy. Everything turned out fine, did it not? Quick and painless.”

Lack’s look told him all he needed to know. Yes what he did was positively stupid. Yes he knew that in the back of Lack’s mind, he was still thinking of his son not being able to see his grandfather after waiting so patiently to see his famous relative. Truth be told,The Magician didn’t even know why he did that. He was no were near athletic like his son. Was it really nothing but the adrenaline that got to him? That’ll be something he’d have to look into. 

The Magician sighed, “I’m sorry kiddo. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m extremely lucky I ended up okay through that. I had a brief talk with your main officer and he said I should be out in two days as long as I don’t have any uncovered cuts. I’ll be there for your boy’s birthday okay? I’ll even bring a little something extra for him to make up for it. Didn’t he say he thought that silly mini grill I used to bring with me on my lengthy trips was so cool to him? He’s always wanted to know more about my world expeditions. I bet he would love that thing as a token of my travels.”

“You know you being there is enough of a gift as is. There’s no need to bring back that dusty old thing. When was the last time you even used that? Five years ago when you needed to make food on the fly in bug infested forests?” Lack chuckled, his sassy nature showing off in his sarcastic humor, “You promise me you’ll be okay and I’ll look past this. Oh, one last thing before you go off.”

“What is it kiddo?”

“Sorry for so adamantly denying you from your work.”

With that the doors where slammed shut and Lack was back to his job. The Magician couldn’t hide the big ol’ smile he had beaming across his face. Sure, in the end this entire trip was useless. He wasn’t even able to test out any of the treatments he had due to the sudden change of plans and he was still running on three hours of sleep, but he was satisfied. To think that this young man had grown up so much in such a short amount of time. To think that he would normally just stomp off angrily and avoid talking with him for weeks after. That kid and wife of his really has had an amazing impact on him. The Magician couldn’t have been more proud of where life took his dear kid. As long as his family was living their best lives, he could keep on working towards his goal of healing what so many people believe can’t be healed. It’s the safe and comforting future his family deserves. What every family out there deserves.


End file.
